Hunger For Love
by Kerstyn-Maria.6408
Summary: A story about an eighteen year old girl, Darcy Hayfield, who volunteers for her best friends little sister. With surprises, unexpected twists, romances, pains, struggles, and something she never saw coming. Will she be ready for what happens, or will it be too much for her to handle? Chapter one of a novel.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one.

My sister is running. Screaming out for help. From my view, I can't tell who she's running from. She is screaming for our mom. The weird thing is, our mom has been dead for five years. Why would she be calling out for a dead person? Why isn't she calling out for me? Then I realize, she's running from me. I'm chasing her, but not in a playful way. She is screaming for dear life. Why? Why am I chasing her? She stops and pulls something out of the pocket on her dress. I'm not really sure what is it. I look at my sister. She's not my sister anymore, literally. Her tiny, undeveloped body has morphed into a big, buffed up guy. Her delicate face has turned into a twisted, angry, devil-like face. Her long, blonde, flowing hair is now short and shaved. Her small feet are now humongous. Her soft-looking hands have clenched up and look so rough. Her pretty dress is now an ugly black outfit. Her olive skin is now pale and rough. My sister has transformed into a monster.

The monster's right hand is holding the object she pulled out of her dress pocket. He throws it in my direction. When it leaves it's hands, I realize that it's a knife. I can now hear my heart beat. She turns and pulls her arm behind her head and throws the object in my direction. It's a knife. The blade is coming closer and closer to my body. Instead of moving, like I usually would, I stood there, paralyzed. It's less than a few inches away from my body now. My eyes open, quickly, and my body instantly goes from laying down to sitting up. It was just a dream. I let out a sigh of relief. Then I hear the pitter-patter of feet running into my small bedroom. "Are you okay, Darcy?" My little sister, Mae, is standing in the doorway, with tears filling her bright, blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mae. Why are you crying, sweetheart?" I'm good at hiding my feelings. I don't like to worry Mae. We are so very close. We rarely get in fights, but when we do, they aren't bad. We make up in three seconds. She looks at the ground and rubs her hand up and down her arm. "I…" She glances up at me, and I motion for her to come over. She slowly walks to my bed. I pat an open spot on the edge of the bed twice, gesturing for her to sit. Mae sits and puts her head on my shoulder. "What is it, Mae? You can tell me. You know that." She sighs and shakes her head.

"Mae, tell me. Right now, please." I look at her eyes. One single tear falls from her cheek onto her night gown. She turns her head, trying to hide the fact that she is crying. "C'mon, Mae. You can tell me anything. I won't tell a single soul. I promise." I bend my arm and pull my fist close to my chest, so that my elbow is towards her. She does the same thing and we touch elbows. That's our little thing. If we promise each other something, we do that. She calls it "our nub promise." That's another joke. When she was little, she called her knees and elbows nubs. Ever since then, we've called them nubs. She takes a sigh and looks at me.

"I'm scared. For the reaping. I can't survive in the Games. I'll be the first one dead. I'm not a hunter. I'm not a survivor. We both know it, Darcy. You can't deny it. I've never been able to hunt. I'm the worst hunter in the whole district!" She puts her face in her hands and starts crying hard. I wrap my arm around her and pull her close. She isn't a very good hunter. I'll admit it. She isn't that good, but she is twelve. She hasn't had a lot of practice. I'm sure if she had more practice, she would be better. Maybe. "Darcy, what if you get chosen? If you go into the Hunger Games and you don't make it, who will take care of me? I will die, too. Ever since mom died you've been taking care of me. There will be no one left to help me." She's right. I'm all she has left. Since our dad got killed by the Capitol for poaching, me and mom were taking care of Mae for three years. Then my mom died of hunger. So now I have to take care of Mae by myself.

"Mae Hayfield, don't think like that. Even if I do get chosen, Brock will take care of you until I get back. I will be coming back. Anyway, Mae, that won't happen. Okay? It won't happen." I used my thumb to wipe away the falling tears from her face.

"Okay, Darcy. I hope you're right."

"I am. Don't you worry your pretty, little head. Now, let's get ready for the reaping."

"Okay. I want to wear my blue dress. With the lace at the bottom."

"The one mom gave you from when she was a kid?"

"Yes, that one. The one she wore to her first reaping. I tried it on last night, when you fell asleep, and it fit. Can I please wear it, Darcy? Please!"

"Sure. Let me see it once you have it on, okay? I'll see you when I'm dressed."

"Okay." She smiles and runs out of the room. The dirty, pink night gown is flowing around her ankles. I chuckle and fall against my pillow. _Who is their next victim going to be?_

Once I'm out of the bed I walk over to the closet and pull out my mothers favorite dress. It's a faded sea-foam green. It's long and it has lace all the way around the bottom and on the sleeves. The sleeves fall like a t-shirt does. The dress tightens at the waist and then flows all the way to the floor. The dress comes with a pair of gold shoes. They cover from the toes to the heel. They are ever so comfortable. I braid my hair into two braids. Then I tie them together with a ribbon. I call Mae into my room so I can fix her hair. I braided it into two pigtails, the way mom did before she passed away. She smiled and hugged me around my waist.

"I love you, Darcy." She says with out warning. That is the first time she's said it since mom died. She said she was afraid to love anyone again because she thought that if they did they would die. I guess that fear is over.

"I love you, too." Since I'm not the mushy type of girl I say, "It's time to go."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

Mae and I walk to our designated areas and stand there, waiting. I search for Brock Burris, my best friend. I see him standing there talking to one of the other eighteen year old boys. Well, good to know that he's here. I wish I could hug him before they call out the tributes. I see Brock's little sister, Amy, standing next to Mae. Her face looks worried. Her arms are folded and she is nervously tapping her foot. Mae, on the other hand, looks nervous, but calm. I look for Brock again. This time, he locked eyes with me. He waved and smiled. I returned the favor. He mouths "I love you." I mouth it back. We always tell each other we love each other before each reaping, just in case one of us gets chosen.

A voice boomed through the speakers, "Welcome! District 11 is so different than the Capitol, were I'm from." Her hair is short and gray with red streaks. Her face is white with red lips and red eye shadow. She is wearing a red business shirt, and a red skirt. Her heels are at least five inches high. They're red. Shocker. I didn't pay attention to her name. Oops. She begins to give a speech about the Capitol. Every two minutes she says something about how she lives in the Capitol. It's like she is dying for everyone to know that she lives there. Honestly, I doubt anyone cares. By the way she dresses, it is needless to say that she lives there. They dress so odd, but that is not my place to judge. It must be a Capitol thing. I really don't know.

Her voice is high-pitched and annoying. Very squeaky. "Now, time to draw for tribute. Ladies first." She sticks her hand (with three inch nails that are painted red) into the huge jar full of names. She circles around the top of the pile a few times then shoves her hand down to the bottom and pulls a single piece of paper out. She reads it. She looks at the audience. "Amy Burris. Amy Burris, you are now the female tribute for District 11." My eyes shoot in Brock's direction. His eyes are wide and his jaw is hanging. You can see the fear in his face. His little sister is a huge part of his life. He loves her more than anything. The announcer searches the crowd for any movement. "Amy Burris. Where are you?" I turn around and look at Amy. She is shaking her head and wiping her eyes. Mae is squeezing her arm, not letting her go. I take a deep breath.

I begin pushing people out of my way so I can get to aisle. My eyes are already watering up. My palms begin to sweat, out of nervousness. My stomach is doing summersaults. When I get to the aisle, I simply say, "I volunteer!" The men in white suits start pushing me back, so I repeat myself, except a louder. They stop fighting me and I push them out of my way. "I volunteer for Amy Burris as tribute for District 11." Now, I am screaming. They escort me to the stage. I climb up the stairs and turn to the crowd. The announcer asks me a question, "Dear, what is your name?" I look at her, stunned. I can't believe that I did that. I feel paralyzed. I didn't want to move. I use every ounce of courage that I have to walk to the microphone. "Darcy Hayfield." She looks at me with a look of suspicion. "May I ask you, why you volunteered for Miss Amy Burris?" I look for Brock, but I can't see him from this far away. I'm guessing he is happy that his sister isn't going into the Hunger Games, but worried that I am. He is very protective of me. Once, when I cut my finger on a piece of wood, he freaked out. It was only a small cut. I was perfectly fine, but he made it seem like it was the end of the world. Now, he really should be worried. I am volunteering myself to die.

"She's my best friends little sister. I love her like she is my own sister. I would do this for my sister, so I will do this for her." I look at the crowd. Silence. No sound. Nothing. It's silent, except for the wind. "Well, Darcy, you are very sweet. Now, the male tribute." She repeats the process. When she opens the card her eyes grow wide and turn to face me. "Brock Burris. The male tribute for District 11 is Brock Burris." My heart drops. I shut my eyes and let my head fall. I can feel the tears forming, so I try to hold them in. I can't let Brock see me like this. I might have to kill my best friend. Either way, one of us is going to die.

Brock has made his way to the stage and is now standing a few feet away from me. Even though it's silent, I don't think it's ever been this loud. Thank goodness the announcer breaks the silence, "Brock Burris and Darcy Hayfield, may the odds be ever in your favor. Now, let's hear it for your tributes." There was a roar of clapping. It was nervous clapping, though. Not enthusiastic at all. Everyone in our district knows that Brock and I are best friends. They know that this must be hard on us. "Now, shake hands." I stretch out my hand and he grabs it. His grip is firm.

His green eyes met mine for a second. Then he mouthed, "I love you, Darcy. " I nodded. I've only seen Brock cry once. That was when we were smaller and his dad died. His eyes were full of tears. I couldn't talk. Not now, at least. He pulled me to him and hugged me. He kissed my forehead and rubbed my back. I wrapped my arms around him. After a few seconds I pushed him away. I felt faint. Very, very faint. My legs buckled and I fell. Brock screamed, "Darcy!" I could hear the audience gasping. Everything went black. I felt pain in my head for a split second. Then I felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. Just blackness.

I woke up in a room. I look around and I see Mae sitting there. "Mae!" I stand up and hug her. I hug her tighter than I ever have before. She is crying, or has been. You can see the tear stains on her face. I bend down and kiss her forehead. She kisses me on the cheek. "Darcy, you said this wouldn't happen. You said that everything was going to be okay. This is happening, and it is not okay!" Her voice is croaked. You can hear the fear in it. You can see it in her eyes, too. She keeps rambling on until she can't speak anymore. She sits back down in the chair and buries her face in her hands.

"Mae, stop, right now. Listen, it didn't happen like you said it would. I didn't get chosen; I volunteered. This will be okay. I will come back alive. I will come back to protect you. I promise." I push the fallen strands of hair out of her face. She looks up at me and says, "What kind of promise?" I laugh and stick my elbow out. "Our nub promise." She does the same and we promise. The Capitol people stick their head and say that it is time for her to go. I figured she would be the only visitor that I got. I was surprised when Brock's mom walked in and hugged me. "Darcy, if Brock doesn't win this, I hope you do. You are both so ta-" I cut her off.

"Ms. Burris, with all do respect, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Brock? Why aren't you giving him the pep-talk?"

"Darcy, I already did. He told me to come to you now. He told me to tell you that he loves you and that he is not going to let you die. That he is going to protect you no matter what."

"Oh."

"Are you ready?"

"No. Can you please do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"While I'm gone, and if I don't make it back, will you take care of Mae? She has no one else."

"Of course. I will do anything for you, Darcy."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Burris."

"I love you like you are my own daughter. I know at least one of the two of you will die. I can't choose between y'all. I'm so sorry, if you die, but if you don't I hope you will be there to help me get through my loss."

"Brock will win. Trust me, Ms. Burris." Then the Capitol people came in and made her leave. She hugged me then walked out. A few minutes later they came for me. They told me that I had to get on the train to go to the Games. They made Brock and me walk next to each other. Half way there, Brock grabbed my hand. He slid his fingers through mine and squeezed. A reassuring squeeze. I smiled and kept walking. The train was gorgeous. It was long and big. Once we were inside we saw loads of food. Being in one of the poorest districts, we never have this much food; this was a big thing for us. We exchanged looks and started eating. We ate for what felt like five minutes, but it was actually twenty. We might sound like pigs, but we have never had this much food. I mean ever. Not a single time.

We laid back for a while. I had my head laying on his knee, with my body laid out on the couch. He had his feet propped up on the coffee table. We were talking and laughing and being our normal selves, then out of no where, he stopped. "What's wrong, Brock." He pushed my head up and turned me around to face him. "There's something that I've been wanting to tell you for a long time." He looked serious. I asked him what it was. He replied with, "I love you."

"Brock, you've told me that before. A lot."

"But this time I mean it as something different. I always have, but you thought I meant as a sister, so I just went with it."

I swallowed hard. "Then what do you mean?" He grabs my hand slowly and gently. He looks into my eyes and leans in casually. I don't move. I can't move. I can't think. I can't do anything. When his lips land on mine, I know what to do. I kiss him back.


End file.
